LI-NING Hong Kong Open｜Tai Tzu Ying and Jonatan Christie cruise through Loh Kean Yew exits from first round

Chinese Taipei ‘badminton queen’ Tai Tzu Ying kicked off convincingly in the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 “LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships” with a quick fire win in the WOMEN’S SINGLES while defending champion Jonatan Christie also had a strong start in the MEN’S SINGLES with a comfortable win over Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei.

At the Hong Kong Coliseum, Tai, champions in 2014, 2016 and 2017, exited in the opening round last year when she retired in her match against compatriot Hsu Wen Chi because of injury. Returning to her golden venue, Tai is seeded first this year in possibly her last appearance in Hong Kong. And against world number 227 Isabelle Rusli of the United States in her first match, Tai needed only 24 minutes to beat the American with a 21-10, 21-12 victory.

Despite the result, Tai was not too happy with her form but was pleased with the fans’ support. “My condition is not that good and had to observe my game during the match,” Tai said. “But the fans are very supportive, from the way I left the hotel to the venue, they always cheered for me and I found out it was almost a full house when I arrived the venue. Hong Kong people love badminton very much and I am very happy to see such a picture.”

Tai admitted it would be difficult to challenge the gold medal again in Hong Kong because of a poor body condition. “My body suffers a lot since last year and has not been able to do what I want to on the courts and enjoy badminton as the way I want to. This is a dilemma. On one hand, I want to do well but on the other hand I cannot get away from injuries. It’s really painful.”

The three-time champion said she always prepared to retire from the sport as there would be little chance of winning again. She will now meet Putri Kusuma Wardani in the next round, the same Indonesian that beat her in the quarterfinals of last week’s Taipei Open.

Other favourite female players also went through to the second round, including Paris Olympic bronze medallist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia, third seed Han Yue of China, Thailand star player Intanon Ratchanok and two Japanese stars, Aya Ohori, the fifth seed, and Tomoka Miyazaki.

In the MEN’S SINGLES, defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, showed a glimpse of his winning form by thrashing Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in his first match. Trailing 7-8 in the head-to-head before the match, Christie was rarely tested in his 21-7, 21-10 victory over Wang. The hot favoruite will now meet Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the second round.

However, another Indonesia star player Anthony Ginting had to give his best before beating Toma Junior Popov of France in three games 21-9, 12-21, 21-10. Also, Japan number one Kodai Naraoka cruised to a 21-13, 21-13 win over Huang Yu Kai of Chinese Taipei but former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore crashed out from the first round after losing to Jeon Hyeok Jin of South Korea in straight games 17-21, 17-21.